For anyone interested, if you go to https://www.wdwmagic.com/other/severe-weather-information/news.htm - you can see how the timeline was for Irma, and how things progressed with Disney impacts and airport closures.
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News Major Hurricane Dorian impacts to Walt Disney World 2019
- Thread starter monothingie
- Start date
Yeah, its going to bypass the land masses in the Bahamas which would normally shred a storm like this and just intensify like crazy in the warm waters east of the islands. The the passing front kicks it backwards instead of up and out like normally would happen. This could be bad for Florida's east coast.
These are some cool model products from Tropical Tidbits, NHC, and aggregator spaghettimodels.com (They will continue to dynamically update as the event progresses.
Gillyanne
Well-Known Member
Do we know if WDW had a "threshold" of a expected category before opting to close the park? I found a list of the 7 other times the park closed and the lowest hurricanes listed for that (per google so maybe it's the highest they were period) were Cat 3 (the ones in 2004 if I recall) everything else were 4s or 5s.
The last one that damped my vacation was Matthew which google tells me was a 5, it closed the parks at 5pm the evening before expected impact, and stay closed through the next day. That's the one that cancelled our Halloween Party, and I'm curious if this could do the same again (Our tickets are for Monday). The 2016 cancellation (if I recall) gave the option to swap for another party ticket (per capacity availability) OR for a 1 day park hopper. We had opted for the latter as the party was Thurday of a leaving saturday trip, but this year we'd still at least (hopefully) be able to make Friday's party too... I maybe wouldn't be against going Monday if it's still on, but I'm sure the parade, fireworks and shows wouldn't be running in that weather :-/
PS: Here's a pic taken about 30 minutes before park closing from 2016 before Matthew
The last one that damped my vacation was Matthew which google tells me was a 5, it closed the parks at 5pm the evening before expected impact, and stay closed through the next day. That's the one that cancelled our Halloween Party, and I'm curious if this could do the same again (Our tickets are for Monday). The 2016 cancellation (if I recall) gave the option to swap for another party ticket (per capacity availability) OR for a 1 day park hopper. We had opted for the latter as the party was Thurday of a leaving saturday trip, but this year we'd still at least (hopefully) be able to make Friday's party too... I maybe wouldn't be against going Monday if it's still on, but I'm sure the parade, fireworks and shows wouldn't be running in that weather :-/
PS: Here's a pic taken about 30 minutes before park closing from 2016 before Matthew
BoarderPhreak
Well-Known Member
Expect moderate wind and rain; flights will quite possibly be impacted (mainly delays, possible cancellations ahead of storm).
ryguy
Well-Known Member
I would think Monday would be the day flights would be most effected. Problem is that for a lot of folks up north school starts on Tuesday for the kidos. So if your flight gets cancelled Monday, your kids will miss the first day of school. That being said it really is too early to tell just how Orlando will be effected.
I think Disney's decision is a lot more complicated than just a category rating. They have to deal with staffing, power, flooding, and other factors - all of which are not necessarily related to category.
I think what we can say though, is that if any hurricane arrives where it currently is forecast to, there will very likely be some degree of impact to normal park operations.
dingdangdang
New Member
Heading down tomorrow from the UK for two weeks - am I to be looking at a threat to safety or is this just a miss a few park days kind of thing??? Don’t know whether to be concerned or not
With Irma, the airport closed ahead of the storms arrival. Issues with securing aircraft etc.
Coaster Lover
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Stay safe FL locals and those who happen to be there on vacation! Seems this could be interesting!
I would say that if you were arriving on Sunday/Monday, it would be a problem.
Arriving Thursday means you wont be traveling through the disruption, which is a good thing. Where are you staying? The Disney hotels are extremely well built, and they will take great care of you. But expect the possibility of park closures should things stay as they are.
Depends on how far out from the eye the bands are - they can be hundreds of miles and you will experience everything from just rain and wind to tropical storm level winds to hurricane level sustained winds. I would say at least a couple of hours prior to landfall.
Airlines will start cancelling flights sometime the day before - maybe within 8-10 hours of projected landfall. MCO will probably close sometime Sunday afternoon, early evening. If you're trying to get OUT, do it Saturday, Sunday AM at the latest. Better yet, don't come to Florida.
I would suspect once a Hurricane Warning is in place coupled with a state of emergency that operations will be curtailed. Hurricane warnings mean that in 24 hours hurricane conditions will occur in the area. I really doubt that they would have people in the parks or up and about WDW during the warning period.
The biggest problem is that guests on vacation seem to think they are invulnerable to bad things and reality, and toss common sense out the window.
The biggest problem is that guests on vacation seem to think they are invulnerable to bad things and reality, and toss common sense out the window.
dingdangdang
New Member
Thanks, we’re doing a split stay at two Disney resorts so I guess we’ll be okay. Is it Sunday and Monday when the parks will most likely be closed? Luckily we’re there for two weeks so a few days out won’t mess with our plans too badly
Polydweller
Well-Known Member
And the Orange County sherrif’s department can shut down the roads which also means Disney. During Matthew no road traffic was allowed for at least 24hrs. That meant staff couldn’t get in or out, Disney vehicles couldn’t carry food or supplies. Only emergency vehicles were allowed.
Disney does have “ride out” staff who man the resorts through the storm impact and announcements are made via the phone system to each room. No one is allowed outside, even after the storm, until they can determine that everything is safe.
As of right now, it would seem Monday is likely to be an issue, and possibly an early close on Sunday. But really it is guessing at the moment, it is too early to say. There is still plenty of time for it to change.
As it stands now, I wouldn't want to be traveling anywhere late Sunday or into Monday.
Matthew scrapped along the Florida coastline. Dorian is projected to cross Central Florida, entering somewhere between Vero and Daytona Beach.
I'd look at what happened in 2004 when Charley passed by Orlando. If projections are accurate regarding it's path, you'll see closures similar to 2004.
Take this one serious, people. A Cat 3 storm passing through the area isn't going to be the parks closing for a few hours.
wserratore1963
Active Member
We are heading down tomorrow as we planned and will make the best of it! There are worse things than an extra day or 2 in Walt Disney World
Yes, shift your days. At some point, the state will enact evacuation procedures and all lanes for the Turnpike, I-75 and I-95 will be going in one direction to facilitate residents evacuating.